The Silly Alchemist

“That little brat and Coldblood Five, why aren’t they out yet? What are they doing inside? Why did the emperor want to meet him,” wondered Coldblood Seven, peering inside.

She was waiting for them to leave. To her, Ye Lang entered through this gate, so he should leave through the same gate. At the same time, she wasn’t sure why the emperor had to meet him, so she didn’t know how long it would take.

She knew one thing, which was since their arrival, he hadn’t left through this gate!

Unfortunately, she didn’t know that after Ye Lang’s adventure within the palace, he’d left this wing far behind. He’d already left through the gates of another wing.

She would never meet Ye Lang there. After the incident, she would be angry at Ye Lang for a long time, at the same time exasperated. It was normal for Ye Lang to forget, but how could Coldblood Five forget too?

They’d already agreed to wait here!!!

“Hi miss, it’s dark outside. Why are you still here?” Finally, a guard who’d just completed his shift approached to enquire.

“I’m waiting for the little brat...My cousin. She was invited by the emperor,” she frowned, “I’m not sure what’s going on. She’s been in there for a very long time, did she offend the emperor or something?”

“Oh, I think you’re talking about Lady Marge! She not only offended the emperor but the little princess too. A whole group of us had to chase her down...” The guard immediately thought of Lady Marge. She was the only person who’d been summoned by the emperor that day.

“...I knew I shouldn’t have let her in there alone! What do I do now?!!” exclaimed Coldblood Seven, a little anxious.

“Don’t worry miss, she’d offended the emperor and little princess, but she had the empress dowager to back her up. She’s alright now, she left through the South gate a long time ago!” smiled the guard.

“Ah...” Coldblood Seven was shocked. When did Ye Lang meet the empress dowager? Why did she protect him?

Did they meet yesterday? Did the emperor summon him because of this?

At this point, the guard continued, “And that’s why there’s no reason for you to wait here, you should go back to meet your cousin!”

“Ahh...” Coldblood Seven was stunned for a moment, then clenched her teeth. She roared, “You little brat, you’re in so much trouble! You didn’t tell me!! I’ve just wasted a whole day!!!”

Coldblood Seven was furious. She’d realised she’d waited here for nothing, and wasted so much energy worrying about them. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

She wanted to chop Ye Lang into bits!! She was so angry she left without thanking the guard.

The guard smiled. He didn’t mind. However, he did mind having a person standing awkwardly in front of the palace. This made the guards suspicious, so he had to come over to talk to her.

...

“Little brat, oh look, you’re back!!” shouted Coldblood Seven, dashing furiously at Ye Lang.

“What?” Ye Lang didn’t understand, “It isn’t even that late, approximately dinner time. It’s not late at all!”

“You...” Coldblood Seven wanted to grab him, but he dodged.

“Little idiot, do you recall what we’ve forgotten now?” asked Coldblood Five coldly, calmly watching the chase between Ye Lang and Coldblood Seven.

“What did I forget?” asked Ye Lang while running.

“It’s Coldblood Seven!”

“Oh, Coldblood Seven! Right, I remember. She’s waiting at the palace, and we didn’t tell her, I should go now...” Ye Lang hadn’t connected the dots.

“...” Coldblood Five and Seven fell silent.

“What are you doing? This bitch is already here to screw you over!!” Coldlood Seven finally caught Ye Lang in her palm. She pinched his face with her index finger and thumb.

“Ahh... That hurts...” shouted Ye Lang, struggling. Coldblood Seven loosened her grip.

“Isn’t everything fine now that you’re back? What did you pinch me for? Let me go!!” Ye Lang rubbed his reddened face, looking pitiful.

“How dare you?? You didn’t tell me, I waited for an entire day and I have been so worried for half of it!!” Coldblood Seven lightly rubbed his tiny head with a finger, still furious.

“I forgot...” Ye Lang was very honest. A mistake was a mistake. If he knew about it, he’d admit to his mistakes and bear the consequences. Of course, he had to be sure of the context first.

Also, he was lucky Ye Lanyu and the rest weren’t here. They’d probably toss him straight in the air.

“Fine, I’ll let you go this time. I heard you’ve gotten close to the empress dowager, what happened?” Coldblood Seven put him down, giving him a light flick.

She wanted to know about the most positive thing that happened today, which was the empress dowager protecting him. As for offending the emperor and the princess, she didn’t want to talk about those in case she got mad again.

Then again, to her, the relationship between Ye Lang and the emperor wasn’t relevant. He only needed the protection of one person. It was the empress dowager’s birthday ceremony anyway. If she agreed to something, it would be useless even if the emperor objected.

She was fortunate to have made that decision. If she were told that Ye Lang had offended the emperor all over one magic cube, she’d definitely collapse from anger.

“That granny...” answered Ye Lang.

“What granny?” asked Coldblood Seven, puzzled. Weren’t they talking about the empress dowager here?

“Granny is the empress dowager!” interrupted Coldblood Five.

“...” She fell silent. How did the empress dowager become ‘granny’? This little brat worked in mysterious ways.

“We met at the palace because she wanted me to give the necklace to her granddaughter- but I refused her. That was how we met.”

“That’s it? You refused her, and yet she’s still so nice to you?”

“Not that nice, but this is normal. Many people are like this to me,” Ye Lang didn’t find it odd. Throughout his life, there’d been way too many people who’d been nice to him. This was nothing.

Perhaps it was because of his luck, or perhaps his personality. His clumsy, clueless self was too damn lovable, people instinctively wanted to care for him without realising it themselves.

Exhibit A: Coldblood Five. Even Coldblood Seven was becoming one of them.

Of course, they only cared for him in a friendly manner. It wasn’t a romantic attraction or anything, including Zhen Xiaoyan and Princess Qi- they were all platonic!

At this point, no one had such feelings towards Ye Lang-- or at least they thought they didn’t!